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Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Western Germany

Hi all, My husband and I would like to plan a trip and have interest in visiting these countries, however with our time frame we know we can not visit them all. This is why we are hoping we can get some input and recommendations from you all. Unfortunately with our schedules we will only have about 8-9 days to sightsee. We do not want to plan too much where we are rushing around to see things and not enjoying our trip. As of right now, we think we will be able to go in June. We are a couple that enjoys the history that Europe has to offer (but not walking around museums all day) great food, wine, just being outside taking strolls around the streets. We took a trip to Southern Italy last August and enjoyed an itinerary with sightseeing as well as down time. We would love to see a soccer (futbol) game if available because we are big fans of the game.

Which cities would be your recommendations and for how long at each? Are there any special places we should see besides the "big attractions?" We love beautiful scenery, so a taste of the city, country, and sea are always great options for us. Thanks for your help!

The 1st thing I would do is google the Futbol site and see where the game(s) you want to attend will be. Then plan accordingly. Come back and we can recommend more things.

What if the team you love the most is playing in Munich?

For instance, Amsterdam and surrounds is easily 4-5 days. Then train down to Bruges for a day or 2 (one day was enough for me b/c it was too relaxing) Now we would have to factor in where the game is being played.

8 days isn't a long time to site see but it's enough. Western Germany is a large area, that will need to be narrowed down.

I think you can do it all with careful planning. I would just try to maximize your feet-on-the-ground time by keeping the ground travel reasonably short. With 9 days, I could see the following... it's a nice mix of cities and smaller places, I think.

Fly into AMS
2 nights in A'dam - not a lot but enough for the city itself if you target your interests.
2 nights in Bruges (3-4 hrs. by train from A'dam)
1 night in Cologne (3 hrs. from Bruges; most sights within walking distance of the train station)
2 nights in Cochem (1.5 - 2 hrs. from Cologne) but add on a half-day visit to Rhine Valley on the way
2 nights in Luxembourg (1.5 - 2 hours with half-day visit to Trier on the way)
Fly out of LUX

I'd add a night to Amsterdam and take it off Bruges since arrival day will be taken up with arriving and jet lag.
I assume the 8days are once you are in Europe, not including flying to and from wherever.

And I'm going to add a link to my trip report, also. We did a loop through BeNeLux, from Amsterdam, to Maastricht, to Luxembourg, then Belgium, and back to the Netherlands through Rotterdam, Delft and Leiden (Keukenhof).